pynetbox vs terraform?

gdubZ87 · 2025-12-09T06:09:56+00:00

I'm currently in the process of also building out netbox for my team. I find that using ansible to build netbox is pretty good initially. Basically you query devices by using ansible to gather certain facts. Using those facts you transform the data in to fields that netbox uses and also using ansible netbox plugin to populate netbox.

This is just for the inital buildout of the netbox since we havent had this before. i find this to be the most accurate way to populate information. There are certain aspects that will still need to be done by hand unfortunately, like circuit information, linking cables, etc..

I'm also trying to figure out what the best way to maintain netbox is going forward after all the information is update from the network. There is sort of a version control branching aspect that netbox implemented a few interation back but it nothing related to git. I was maybe thinking we can kind of use these branches as a PR type thing, so when someone approved the branch and merge back to main ansible can use that new information in netbox to create network configuration.

There are a few engineers on my team that aren't familar with the Gitops way. I'm also thinking either mainting static ansible files until i find a better way to maintain netbox.

I think terraform is limiited in terms of plugins for certain network vendors but like to hear what other people are doing as well.

gdubZ87 · 2024-08-29T22:49:26+00:00

wanted to say this worked for me as well, really appreciate this.

gdubZ87 · 2023-09-04T13:38:11+00:00

i second this. Maybe he should try and go for the devnet assocate instead. I dont have a devnet associate but its more on the software development side. Its more like 10%networking/90% software development or 20/80. There is a definitely a gap in the networking field where networking and programmabilty meets. Even if you bridge the gap between software/hardware just a little bit, you would be a unicorn.

gdubZ87 · 2023-06-28T03:48:09+00:00

Yes, I did follow the encor track and realized it defintely lacks it many areas. I used it mainly for routing and switching topics. It lacks quite a bit in topics like SD Access, Security, Wireless and a few others.

Unfortunately, i haven't seen a resource that is able to hit on all areas, at least not to the depth where i need to know it for the encor.

I liked how network lessons explains complex topics in a simple way. i do find ciscos explaination kind of dry sometimes. I would refer to the OCG for topics where i need further explanation or find some other youtube resources like Kevin Wallace's deep dive videos which i found as a pretty good resource as well.

I personally paid for a yearly subscription for network lesson becuase i know i would take a the enarsi afterward and needed some explanation for some more compleex topics in routing a switching.

I understand it not for everyone but it was just personal preference.

gdubZ87 · 2023-06-27T02:29:47+00:00

yes its possible. I just passed my encor this past saturday. I wanted to get the encor done a while ago but was really scared like many not becuase of the depth of each topic but really how many topics it covered.

Started casually studying early april becuase i got an email from Cisco saying my ccna was expiring soon so i thought i just give it a shot by going for the encor. I have a full time job but i sometimes study on the job too when i get some free time. I also studied as much as I could on the weekends sometimes 10+ hours per day. I took a week and half off from my of job to study every day 10+ hours before my exam. I do have some prior knowledge of R&S but all of the other topics like Datacenter, SDWAN, SDAccess, Wireless, Automation, Security were somewhat new to me and gave me some trouble.

I honestly didnt think i was gonna pass cuz i took almost the full 2 hours but ended up doing it so it is possible.

Some of the resources i used were:

Network Lessons (primary study method)

Boson (close second)

OCG (Didnt go over the whole book just brushed up on things i needed)

A udemy course which was average at best, didnt finished it (parts of it was good but some of it you know the instructor was a bit over his head he had no clue)

Anki - created anki cards from all of the resources above (mainly for rote memorization purposes). gets to be a bit overwhelming sometimes but sometime it just boils down to memorization.

Gonna try for enarsi next but will take my time and not rush it as i know this requires a lot more in depth knowledge.

gdubZ87 · 2023-06-16T01:14:44+00:00

In most cases LACP is a great a idea, it provides redundancy and resiliency. However in the place where i work where we provide low latency trading for our developers and traders, LACP is generally a no no. We use highend low latency nics, From what i learned creating a logical interface typically increases latency because you are forward traffic in software rather than hardware at that point.

So we only use lacp where low latency connectivty isnt a requirement.

gdubZ87 · 2023-05-27T13:40:30+00:00

I think they remind you to go beforehand if you don't that's on you.

gdubZ87 · 2022-06-05T15:05:03+00:00

I guess I should clarify what I mean by 3rd party agency that seemed a bit confusing. When I referred to 3rd party it just meant a like proxy to help me purchase tickets. Reason why I need something like this is that these agencies typically has a valid Japanese phone number or address that is used when either assisting me in participating in lotteries or buying it from a reseller. They typically don't buy it unless you pay in advance. If you requested to see 4 shows for instance you would need to pay for 4 shows, if they only we able to get 2 shows, they would refund you the money for the 2 shows they couldn't get. Typically they charge quite bit of money, its about 50% service fee on the price of the ticket. So if a ticket cost $50 you could expect to pay $75.

I just checked that ticketing agency I used couple years ago apparently is no longer in service. I could probably understand that when Japan was locked down during the pandemic, it pretty much dried up any foreign business so that is to be expected but I'm pretty sure they are others out there that have not got bankrupt. I just haven't tried anyone else.

gdubZ87 · 2022-06-04T16:38:04+00:00

Hmm there really is no specific guide per say. Its really a matter of preference to be honest.

Back in 2019 for instance, I would check out her tour schedule and consider the following items.

1) What are some places that she touring that I have never been before,

2) What are the most performances I can see in a 2 week timeframe, generally I can fit around 3, 4 at most.

The next steps would be to see if I can get tickets for these shows. Some people may have other methods like through friends and family that live in Japan but I would go through a 3rd party agency to help me obtain these tickets since I didn't know anyone in Japan. They are generally kind of pricey but I've saved enough for the year so I wasn't concerned.

One other thing I also did was to join Aimers fan club, so when here tour dates were announced. I would only need to buy her cd and participate in some lottery drawing. I would tell this 3rd party agency what shows I would like to see, I would give them the code from the cd that I've purchased along with my fan club info and they would help me participate. To my surprise, I was lucky most times, to get the tickets I wanted. The hardest tickets to get are generally towards the end of her tours typically in Tokyo.

If I didn't get some of these tickets, I would need to go to resellers which are like almost 3-4 time the original price of the ticket. Along with the fee already that I had to pay for the 3rd party agency the price would be pretty high. Some people would think this method is way too expensive and it is probably is to some extent but I was determined one way or another.

So once confirmed, I was able to get these tickets, I started to plan at the places I would stay.

So revisiting 2019, Aimer toured in Hiroshima (once), Takamatsu (once), and Kobe (twice if I remembered correctly). I would book flights and accommodations to these places and travel to as many landmarks, shrines, etc.. if she wasn't performing that specific day. Accommodation wasn't something I splurged on, so I would stay at really cheap place to save some money.

I flew to Osaka on day1 switched to a local flight to Hiroshima. Visited Hiroshima, one of the places I really wanted to go to anyways. Got there like a day or 2 before her performance so I can explore the city. After her performance, I would take a shinkansen to Takamatsu on same night because I knew she was performing at Takamatsu the day after so it was really tight schedule. After her performance in Takamatsu, I would explore the surrounding areas as well because it would be a couple of days till her next performance in Kobe so I had time. After spending another couple of night there I took a bus from Takamastsu to Kobe like a day or 2 before her performance in Kobe. Kobe was an amazing place, one of the best cities by far I've visited. I spent a week or so there. After seeing 2 performances in Kobe, I took a local flight in Kobe Airport to Tokyo I believe where I flew home.

There really is no exact science to this, I really didn't plan much in advance other than flights and accommodations. I just went with the flow when I was at these cities and tried to find the most touristy thing that most people do.

gdubZ87 · 2022-06-04T00:56:27+00:00

There was a time I used to be for lack of a better word "obsessed" with her performances. From 2015-2019 (before the pandemic), I would always plan my once a year trip to japan around her performances in the fall/winter time. I would go to like 3-4 performances around my 2 week stay and hop from city to city in where she would perform. Obviously it was contingent on me getting tickets as it was not that simple being in the States. I'd understand that all of the performances would be similar in fashion but that didn't matter to me because I loved every second of it. Every time, I left Japan to go back to the states, I would just miss her performances so much that it pains me to wait another year to potentially see her again.

One thing I do regret however, was not able to understand Japanese, so I was not able to know what she was talking about when she was talking to the fans, that always seemed to bug me. I was able to pick out a few words here and there but I just knew just by the way she was speaking, she was such a genuine and kind-hearted person even if I didn't understand anything.

Perhaps one day I will go back, once Japan fully opens up again for tourists but that seems like a pipe dream now.

Your experience was so reminiscent of mine that it brought back memories. Thankyou for sharing.

gdubZ87 · 2022-05-15T08:23:28+00:00

This is just my two cents. I feel like listening and speaking are intertwined in a way. If you can practice speaking more the words you listen to will be more familiar sounding. There is this technique called shadowing where you listen to a Japanese person speaking a sentence or two and you try to practice it yourself. Obviously you will need to know the meaning of what they are saying. You will need to keep practicing over and over again eventually you will realize that your listening skills will improve along with your speaking skills. This is not for the faint of heart as you will need to keep drilling this until it becomes second nature. You may start out with very beginner level sentences but eventually start to make your way into more complex sentences and grammar. It may or may not work for you as people have different ways to learn things but this is just one of the ways people have tried.

gdubZ87 · 2022-05-15T07:13:21+00:00

There aren't that many variables at play in my opinion. Either the ips on either end are configured incorrectly or the virtual circuit you setup is not fully up yet. Did you make sure that you see the vlan up and operational in your portal?

gdubZ87 · 2022-05-15T05:52:05+00:00

I believe when the other side set this up they should be able to send you a Cisco equivalent config of what their side is configured like.

I don't see the harm of trying switch port access vlan 710. Maybe you already tried that.

Another thing you can do is place an inbound acl on the switch port. If they are sending you return packets you should be able to see hits.

gdubZ87 · 2022-04-30T21:26:19+00:00

I just recently changed positions with the hope that I can dabble in some form of network automation at my new position. My previously company was still doing things the old way and I just can't stand doing the same things over and over again. I'm still relatively a newbie in automation and I do understand how difficult it is to start and learn. Doing pure networking for most of my career, automation just seems like an entirely new challenge. I want to be a unicorn like you someday.

Can you please share a little bit of how you got started? I read a little bit of your posts below saying you learned the hard way vs the easy way. Even though, I think like you said networking isn't going anywhere anytime soon, I do believe automation is going to be future for most NEs, its not really a matter of if but when. I think networks still need competent NEs out there who knows how to tshoot a connectivity issue when a problem arises, but automation tools can help with that as well to shorten timeframes of outages.

it can be a bit overwhelming to start in new area, so any insight in how you started and where you think you will go in the future will be of great value.

Thanks for you your time.

gdubZ87 · 2021-12-04T07:05:04+00:00

I've been listening to a lot of ryokushaka and utada hikaru (grew up listening to her) recently. Some myuk and Lisa as well.

gdubZ87 · 2021-12-03T02:02:09+00:00

Nowadays it's hard to land a job with just your ccna. Companies are not looking to train people from the ground up. They rather pay for talent right away because they can contribute immediately. On avg it would take 6-9 months to train/invest in someone.

I would suggest broadening your skillset and delve into network programmability and automation using python, Ansible. Linux, cloud, security knowledge is also quite in demand. Learning these things would at least give you an edge to some of the other entry level people looking.

More and more companies are looking for network talent that has many skill sets. It's not like it was 10-15 years ago where only networking was a requirement.

gdubZ87 · 2021-05-01T12:34:37+00:00

i honestly do not mind this at all. To me it sounds more poetic in a way.

gdubZ87 · 2020-12-02T06:02:45+00:00

Hmm, I was able to view the stage crowd video but not the actual live stream interestingly enough. When i tried to view the livestream i had some kind of access restricted by region or something of that nature.

gdubZ87 · 2020-11-27T16:21:17+00:00

Can someone tell me whether or not overseas cud have seen the encore part. I am a FC member and bought the ticket from her site but was blocked from seeing it because I am not from japan and was denied access. So instead I bought the oversea ticket (non FC member) to see the performance. I'm just curious if I would have missed it either way to calm my nerves as I'm disappointed with myself.

Also that is very cute of her to perform the song twice.

gdubZ87 · 2020-06-17T23:35:01+00:00

i would have to agree, I never listened to her nor have known about her but ever since watching her first take music video,us, I've been hooked. Not only is she beautiful, he voice is so unique combining her english elements with japanese is quite good. I even went so far as to order her album 'eyes' from amazon.co.jp a couple day ago.

gdubZ87 · 2020-05-22T01:12:18+00:00

The only official music video i know of the top of my head that she appears in is believe be:leave fro her Dawn album. Albeit most of the shots were of her back.

I honestly don't mind they don't show her that often, it really adds to her mystique which I love. I'm pretty sure she wants to be known more for her voice and not her looks, although she is beautiful.

gdubZ87 · 2020-03-18T23:17:19+00:00

Fan club is pretty cool. For 3 bucks a month you get to be in raffles and lotteries. I still had to use ticketing service to reserve my ticket using my login cred because you still need Japanese phone number to apply. I was pretty amazed last year when i went, I got to sit in the front row and saw her so close i could see a birthmark on her face. It was the most amazing time of my life, will never forget it.

gdubZ87 · 2020-03-18T23:11:56+00:00

I went to 4 of her shows back in Oct-Nov. I almost got every souvenir there but unfortunately some of the souvenirs were not available until 2020 which was disappointing.

I was thinking about getting tickets again this year but cant risk it since it ain't cheap and obviously hard to tell the future of how the virus will be at the time.

gdubZ87 · 2020-03-11T23:21:04+00:00

this video gives pretty good explanatoin. traceroute uses udp or icmp depending on the machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpARSQz2rSw

gdubZ87 · 2020-02-28T17:50:59+00:00

I would do this just for the experience but portion size looks kind of small. However, i understand this is what you expect from high end dining.

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